Higher Education - Essay Example

This paper talks that improvements in the quality of higher education serve as a stepping stone towards a better economic and political advancement in the United States. With this in mind, the process of strengthening the relationship between teachers and students is crucial to further enhance…

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transferring knowledge, skills and cultural values to the students, higher education teachers are indirectly keeping young and unemployed individuals off the streets (Stephens & Leach, 1998, p. 203). In general, each of the school teacher(s) have different set of multiple roles which they need to satisfy on a daily basis. Because of their unique function within an educational institution, functionalists may sometimes conclude that the presence of certain school policies and institutions can be dysfunctional for most of the teachers within a given educational institution. As explained by Appelrouth and Edles (2008, p. 386), the occurrence of dysfunctionality is possible because “they are functional for a more powerful social group or the social system itself”. Functionalists strongly suggest that the main function of higher education teachers is to provide better occupational opportunities for the unemployed students in the long-run. Upon analyzing the functionalist theory of education, it is the students who function as the receiver of the transferred knowledge, skills and cultural values from the school teachers. However, this theory is not applicable when it comes to analyzing the relationship between teachers and students in higher education. Conflict Theory Conflict theory view education as something that “reflects other inequalities within a given society” (Andersen & Taylor, 2011, p. 348). Because of the presence of racial, class and gender discrimination, not all students are able to receive equal rights to education. Furthermore, conflict perspective in higher education also suggest that the process of tracking down teachers’ ability to deliver good quality teaching based on the prescribed school curriculum also contributes to the development of...
This essay stresses that based on symbolic interaction theory, social interaction between teachers and students within an educational institution is possible and necessary when it comes to individual and group successes. As compared to functionalist theory, symbolic interaction theory view human beings within a given society as something that is “not an established structure but as individuals who are trying to meet their life conditions and expectations”. Based on the core perspectives in contemporary sociological theory, the concept of a structural functionalism is more on the non-rational collective side whereas the orientation of symbolic interaction theory is more on non-rational and individualistic side. Considering the fact that symbolic interaction theory heavily relies on the actions made by the school teachers and students, this particular theory can be more effective and applicable in terms of analyzing how the relationship between the school teachers and students in higher education work.
This report makes a conclusion that as compared to functionalist and conflict theories, symbolic interactionism theory is the best applicable theory when it comes to analyzing the relationship between teachers and students in higher education. Unlike the functionalist and conflict theories in sociology, symbolic interactionism theory does not focus on analyzing the structure or functionality or conflicts in a given educational institution but only with regards to how each of the stakeholders who are trying to meet their life conditions and expectations as human beings.
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While causes of this phenomenon are not entirely clear, it is likely the following social and economic factors were dominant, 1) the feminist movement encouraging females to pursue careers outside the home, 2) more severe economic conditions requiring a second household income or in some cases reliance on a wife as breadwinner when the husband becomes unemployed and 3) a blurring of strict male and female social and economic roles as a result of the first 2 factors.

Higher education also occurs in places that include schools that teach certain material such as certification material that is associated with a certain profession. Higher education is a level of education that individuals follow upon completion of secondary school education (Gutting, 03).

In the earlier times, fund raising used to be achieved through dissertations that were focused on a limited number of higher education institutions. The continuation of such dissertations and fund raising process was never guaranteed. Gradually with time, there has been significant development and initiations of different organizations influencing and contributing to the process of funding higher education (Lasater 2006).

Higher education can be described as education where acquired knowledge is focused on specialization into a particular field of interest. In general, higher learning encompasseducation provided by colleges, and universities (Chen & John 2011, p. 635). Basic education is universally provided by almost all the countries in the world with the only difference being that some nations have set the levels at secondary schools while others, especially in the developing countries offering this education only to the primary schools (Rubin 2012, p.

Those include, tuition fees of universities, debt pressures caused by it, cost of living which in turn affecting the academics of the student. To top it all, the government policies and decisions which decide on the status of all other issues.
According to a survey conducted by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi), about 15000 students were surveyed including both first year and second year students.

There would only be approximately two percent of tenured faculties that may be dismissed in a typical year. It is extremely difficult to get fired from being tenure and equally as difficult to become tenure. The probationary period to achieve tenure is estimated to be approximately three years for community colleges and seven years at four-year colleges or universities.

d economy where human beings were its biggest capital. But though its highly developed educational system has a fair role to play in this success story; alongside has run various faults which are parallel and do not help realize its full potential.
Today, in addition to

lisation, there have been observations (Council on Higher Education, 2000) regarding huge alterations in the field of education, in order to equip students with the capability of international standards. For this reason, a huge number of countries have undergone changes in their

Enclosed herein are some recommendations for the further improvement of the higher education system along with a discussion and evaluation of these suggestions.
For centuries, humans have endeavoured to ensure development and growth in their societies via

Thus, I can correctly state, that college has developed from being an elite privilege into an indispensable career resource. The modern day higher education mans three developments to me; knowledge diversification; student body